1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed and taught herein relates generally to encased, electric motor driven devices, and more specifically is related to a protective motor scroll assembly for use with a fluid machine, such as a vacuum appliance, having an internal electric motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
The invention disclosed and taught herein is directed to an improved motor scroll assembly for a fluid machine. Although this invention can be used in numerous applications, it will be disclosed in one of many applications for illustrative purposes.
Typically, when a vacuum appliance, such as a wet/dry or work area vacuum cleaner, is switched “on”, the vacuum motor is energized, which in turn rotates a blower wheel. The rotating of the blower wheel generates a vacuum within the vacuum collection drum. There is typically a filter, among other components, interfaced between the blower wheel and the collection drum. When a hose, or other such attachment is coupled to the drum, the vacuum will cause air, dirt, liquids, and/or other media or debris to be drawn from a dirty surface into the collection drum. As this “dirty” air enters the drum, some of the media particles fall to the bottom of the drum, while other media, typically the finer media particles, may contact the vacuum filter. The filter traps at least a majority of the particulate media, thus preventing it from being drawn out of the drum, and exhausted back into the atmosphere of the work area. The filtered air then typically flows into a motor scroll housing that houses the blower wheel, whereafter it is generally exhausted into the atmosphere surrounding the vacuum appliance via an exit port. The motor scroll housing, or motor scroll, typically exists atop the lid of the vacuum appliance and includes a cavity that contains the blower wheel, wherein the blower wheel spins to draw air from the drum to create a vacuum in the system. The motor scroll housing typically includes two or more components coupled together with one or more seals or gaskets to ensure a proper vacuum is maintained within the system by preventing unwanted fluid communication between the motor scroll cavity and the atmosphere. However, because the motor scroll housing is located outside the drum, air can escape into the atmosphere if one or more of the seals fails.
While each of these systems may be useful in certain limited applications, it can be seen that there is a need for an improved motor scroll that inverts the standard collector scroll seal to the waste drum side of the system to provide a fail-safe seal and that can eliminate the need for additional gaskets.
The invention disclosed and taught herein is directed to an improved motor scroll assembly and method for housing an impeller assembly and exhausting air from a fluid machine, such as a wet/dry vacuum cleaner, using such an assembly.